Alachua County Public Schools had 21 students and faculty in quarantine as of Tuesday night, according to the school district’s COVID-19 dashboard.
Under the district’s protocol, those in quarantine reflect positive COVID-19 cases and people who had significant contact with someone who tested positive.
If a student in a class tests positive, it is not protocol for the entire class to quarantine in all instances, ACPS spokesperson Jackie Johnson said. However, if the teacher or school learns the student had significant contact with others, the school will always act on the side of caution and ask the people in close contact to quarantine.
As of Tuesday night, there were seven active student cases and one active staff case, representing students and staff who have reported a positive test result to ACPS in the past 10 days. The district’s total enrollment is 26,660 students.
The cases reported reflect the number of faculty, staff and students who tested positive for COVID-19 over spring break, which started March 22 and ended March 26. However, Johnson said there are probably some cases that the county is not aware of yet.
“People getting on planes or traveling to events and being in larger crowds could very well lead to an increase in the number of cases in schools,” Johnson said. “We do expect that over the next few weeks, but we don't know that for sure.”
The district has determined there have been no instances of a COVID-19 outbreak on school grounds. An outbreak is defined as an index, or initial positive case, plus three more positive cases related to that case within seven days.
ACPS continues to follow the advice of the Scientific Medical Advisory Council, which includes UF experts who monitor the county’s COVID-19 cases on a daily basis and determine classroom spread, Johnson said.
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In elementary schools, there is one student case and one staff case, as of Tuesday night.
In middle schools, there are four student cases, as of Tuesday night.
In high schools, there are two cases, as of Tuesday night.
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Contact Jiselle Lee at jlee@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @jiselle_lee.
Jiselle Lee was The Alligator’s Summer 2023 Editor-In-Chief. She was previously a reporter with NextShark News and a reporting intern at The Bradenton Herald.
